Super Tangent(010)

Preamble: Ahhhhhh, feels good to get writing these tangents again – its not that nothing hasn’t been pissing me off (there is never a dry spell of that), just been busy focusing on more topic related posts. There is a correlation I think between tangents/rants (pent up anger and frustration) to producing great content; whether it is art, writing, sports, or singing – frustration seems to affect performance (for some), well for me, looks like it is positvely correlated. So, haters, busters, chumps, pricks, hacks, and lames – keep doing your thing!

Night Out with Friends

Maybe it’s the anti-social nature in me, or maybe it is the years of experience waiting for people, picking up people, people not being ready when they said they will be – but I do not really enjoy the process that preceds going out to the club/lounge with friends. I know there are some folks that bask and really like this stage of going out; but I repel it, try to avoid it as much as possible. My usual experiences usually goes like this: friends get the ‘cheap-bug’ and want me to drive, they are reluctant to pitch in on gas & parking, and then there is the waiting part (see my various posts on ‘time’ to understand that). Recently I have tried to bypass all of the elements that annoy me of the club process by telling my friends that I will meet them at the venue – but somehow that never pans out as expected. Maybe, just maybe, in the future I will pronounce that I will not attend, and then magically appear – thus saving my time, money, and sanity.

Preparing Your Route

Maybe its one of those weird logical things that only make logical sense, but if I were going to an address that I don’t know – I will not ask directions from other people; as usually these directions go somewhat like “turn left after 2 lights, the 4th street turn right, after you see the school go for 2 more blocks then turn left”, and so on. More times than not in those situations, a key count of a light or street is overlooked, which leads to one getting lost. So to avoid those situations, one should search out the directions on Google Maps or MapQuest so that they can print out or write the directions – especially if you have days/weeks advance notice in knowing that you have to be at this specific location. It baffles me that some people who use web communications daily, do not rely on the web to solve a simple problem such as directions. People need to be self-reliant in solving life’s simplest problems, don’t rely on others solving your issues that you could’ve easily solved yourself with a little effort and time management. Step your game up!

Measuring Importance

Women have a hard time in understanding. Period. Wait, that was too ‘black & white’, maybe not ‘period’, because women have no problemo in understanding what is important to them – but lord help you for women trying to UNDERSTAND anything that DOES NOT relate or affect them (ooh, isn’t that ‘selfish’, lol). That is like trying to explain color to a man that was born blind, teaching a dog to speak several human languages, understanding the meaning of life – it is damn near impossible and will take years to accomplish. I don’t think there is more need to elaborate other than that women usually have a tendency (yes, strong stereotypes are being used) to only have concern for themselves, and to f— everything else, everyone, and there desires. So fellas, as I have said many times in tweets, posts, in relationships it seems that you got to sit on your knees, cup your genitals, give up your independence, brain, and pride to your woman – if you truly want to make her happy … (that was sarcasm). Stand up fellas, don’t let these birds peck at you; if you had fear before, get some courage you cowardly Lion – stand up.

Workplace Body Language Cues

This is for all those in the work environment, I am sure you have experienced a million times already. I can’t stand when people don’t pick up on body language cues that I drop, that indicate that: a) I don’t care to sit and ‘chit chat’, b) I have lost interest in the conversation, or c) I really don’t give a f— in engaging in this mindless dialogue. I usually drop cues such as backing away from them, turning my body away from them, begin typing on my workstation again – but it usually doesn’t work as they still talk; talking about what they did last weekend, what they will do this weekend, about the boss, blah blah blah blah. I have to blame myself for this, I have to rant on my behavior because I am a very good attentive listener. I give good attention cues such as nodding head, saying stuff like “oh really?”, “wow”, “ok”, “that’s good”, and so on. Essentially, I may be motivating them to talk more as they are picking up on my verbal responsive cues, and may be ignoring or not even noticing my body language cues … and they say that “Body Language speaks louder than Verbal Language”, well, not in the workplace environment, at least not for me.

Hypervigilance

a hinderance or an accelerant?

To all blend DJ’s, abstract artists, digital designers, application program developers, fiction writers, and like-minded individuals; hypervigilance, which you may interpret as paranoia, needs to be realized, channeled, and understood appropriately for your forward momentum. Growing up, I am sure we can all recall those kids that were weird, dressed funny, socially were out of place, but they excelled in the arts; paintings, drawings, molding, et cetera. A possible reason for this is having hypervigilance, which can be described as “an enhanced state of sensory sensitivity accompanied by an exaggerated intensity of behaviors whose purpose is to detect threats. Hypervigilance is also accompanied by a state of increased anxiety which can cause exhaustion. Other symptoms include: abnormally increased arousal, a high responsiveness to stimuli and a constant scanning of the environment for threats”. So in the structural definition, a hypervigilant person can be likened to one who is very paranoid about themselves, their surroundings, and exaggerate subtle environment cues as threats to their own safety.

Causality to the Creative

So if this sounds like you, don’t worry, its even better if you are somewhat creative as researchers have correlated links between hypervigilant people and creativity, a study in the September 2003 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that the brains of creative people appear to be more open to incoming stimuli from the surrounding environment. A University of Toronto press release noted, “Other people’s brains might shut out this same information through a process called ‘latent inhibition’ – defined as an animal’s unconscious capacity to ignore stimuli that experience has shown are irrelevant to its needs. “Through psychological testing, the researchers showed that creative individuals are much more likely to have low levels of latent inhibition. “This means that creative individuals remain in contact with the extra information constantly streaming in from the environment,” says co-author and University of Toronto psychology professor Jordan Peterson.

Benefit for you

It appears that reduced latent inhibition can be beneficial for creativity as decreased latent inhibition may make an individual more likely to see connections that others may not notice. This may explain why so many creative individuals partake in solitary acts; it fosters inspiration and creativity by absorbing environmental stimuli. Or how you may have some friends that will comment and be able to talk about the strangest and peculiar details of life. However, with all this sensory stimulation, one can be overwhelmed – which in some cases, can lead one to madness. But interestingly enough, Einstein, Newton, and other creative individuals that have enhanced mankind were labeled as ‘genius’, but many said that they bordered on the line of madness and insanity. Many times, I always thought I was a genius or maybe I was just crazy … I am sure many of the hypervigilant folk can relate.

Importance of Iron

The ills of Iron deficiency

Fatigue is one of our worst enemies – it causes us to lose energy and motivation to complete tasks, enjoy company and/or entertainment. For the Yuppy, this fatigue may be onset due to long hours, high temperature, physical activity, or stress. Any or a combination of these symptoms, mixed in with irregular eating, can lead to decrease functioning. So, you may have an iron deficiency, which can be described as; a reduction in hemoglobin, which is the key factor in providing oxygen in the blood stream. Not having the required amount of oxygen in the blood stream causes the lethargic, fatigue feeling that some may experience on a daily basis.Here are some common symptoms
– irritability
– weakness
– shortness of breath
– low blood pressure (especially when going from lying or sitting to standing)
– sore tongue
– brittle nails
– unusual food cravings (called pica)
– decreased appetite (especially in children)
– headache
To correct iron deficiency, one could take iron supplements (pills) that are available at your local pharmacy without prescription OR you can change your diet to include foods with plenty of iron. Meat, fish, poultry are all good sources of iron, and for the vegan crowd, legumes and dark-green leafy vegetables like broccoli, kale and oriental greens are especially good sources of iron. Of course after a change in your diet, and you still notice that you have fatigue, and it may be an iron deficiency, you should contact your local physician.

Phases of the Migraine

Different phases of pulsating pain
Phases of the Migraine

The Yuppy, Nerban, bum, herb, dude, trick may differ in their values and characteristics, but they all are exposed to mental strains – the stress of the world, mixed with a lack of sleep, with a sprinkle of annoying mofo’s, can be the recipe for concurrent migraines. You know what a migraine is; the heavy feeling in your head, the throbbing, occurs when you really don’t need it – when you have to focus on an important task, when you are in the company of loved ones, or when you are at work. Migraines have the ability to affect our mood, and subsequently our behavior. Upon reading, I found out that there are different phases of migraines that can attack us:

Prodrome phase
Prodromal symptoms occur in 40–60% of migraineurs (migraine sufferers). This phase may consist of altered mood, irritability, depression or euphoria, fatigue, yawning, excessive sleepiness, craving for certain food (e.g. chocolate), stiff muscles (especially in the neck), constipation or diarrhea, increased urination, and other visceral symptoms. These symptoms usually precede the headache phase of the migraine attack by several hours or days, and experience teaches the patient or observant family how to detect that a migraine attack is near.

Aura phaseFor the 20–30% of individuals who suffer migraine with aura, this aura comprises focal neurological phenomena that precede or accompany the attack. They appear gradually over 5 to 20 minutes and generally last fewer than 60 minutes. The headache phase of the migraine attack usually begins within 60 minutes of the end of the aura phase, but it is sometimes delayed up to several hours, and it can be missing entirely. Symptoms of migraine aura can be visual, sensory, or motor in nature.

Pain phase
The typical migraine headache is unilateral, throbbing, moderate to severe and can be aggravated by physical activity. Not all of these features are necessary. The pain may be bilateral at the onset or start on one side and become generalized, and usually alternates sides from one attack to the next. The onset is usually gradual. The pain peaks and then subsides, and usually lasts between 4 and 72 hours in adults and 1 and 48 hours in children. The frequency of attacks is extremely variable, from a few in a lifetime to several times a week, and the average migraineur experiences from one to three headaches a month. The head pain varies greatly in intensity.

Postdrome phase
The patient may feel tired, have head pain, cognitive difficulties, “hungover”, gastrointestinal symptoms, mood changes and weakness. Some people feel unusually refreshed or euphoric after an attack, whereas others note depression and malaise. Often, some of the minor headache phase symptoms may continue, such as loss of appetite, photophobia, and lightheadedness. For some patients, a 5 to 6 hour nap may reduce the pain, but slight headaches may still occur when standing or sitting quickly. Normally these symptoms go away after a good night’s rest.

Now the remedy part to ‘alieve’ migraines, I usually go with the common-sense theorem; don’t do the things that are taxing to your body (i.e. not sleeping well, not eating properly, etc.), but that is better said than done – especially with the ambitious and simple-minded alike. There are the over the counter drugs like Aspirin and Tylenol, but I am not really a proponent for drugs because though they may help, one may develop a dependency on it that may be detrimental. And further, one is not solving the precipitating problem, but just allowing a mechanism to cope. Thus, the experts suggest that one way to significantly lower the frequency of migraines is to do physical activity for at least 15 minutes a day – its funny, it seems that excursive/vitality is the remedy to most ailments, yet we never find time to do so, and that is why a good 2/3+ of the U.S. population is obese – go figure. Sexual activity is also another viable way to decrease migraines – I am sure the fellas will subscribe to that … and it may even lead to an increase in men reporting migraines.

Stretching Thin

Staying on the equilibrium path of momentum for the Yuppy; CAUTION, challenges ahead, usually from within

The Yuppy goes ‘hard’, our lives is a constant balancing act as we try to maintain a steady equilibrium of forward movement. Some of us have vices that we use to sustain the movement; alcohol, drugs, avoidance, detachment, and we think that this will stretch our movement. However this is counter-productive thought, our vices usually are a quick fix for us to escape our fears, insecurities and problems which are probably interfering with the forward movement that we are desiring to achieve. Being self-aware of such a fact, and taking a hard look at your inner self can make one realize potential hazardous behaviors. I am not saying that social drinking is not acceptable, but if after every stressful event in your life, you cope with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, then one is creating a dangerous dependency.

Personal relationships can be the worse as we may not be able to enjoy the company of others (our family, friends, loved ones). Sometimes yuppy’s are so passionate about their own projects, their agenda, that they can’t relate to others’ accomplishments and stories. It’s like our sister and brothers can be telling us something about their day that they find interesting, and we will show an attitude of of un-interest and nonchalant behavior. Appreciating others may be a first step in appreciating our own selves and accomplishments.

In all, the Yuppy goes hard, and the Yuppy has a lot to deal with. A lot of pressure and stress can come from various sources, and how we deal with them ultimately defines how far we will go, and at what cognitive/physical/social expense.

Presenteeism

I am here, but not here

Presenteeism can be defined as the following:

“20 to 30 days out of the year, people show up for work, but accomplish very little”

Presenteeism is the opposite of absenteeism. In contrast to absenteeism, when employees are absent from work, presenteeism discusses the problems faced when employees come to work in spite of illness, which can have similar negative repercussions on business performance. It can also refer to the expectation of employers for their employees to be present at work regardless of whether any work is available or accomplished.

After thinking about this concept, I thought of a few industries/professions where this behavior may run rampant, such as:

Government Workers

– If you ever tried to pay a parking ticket, or get something from a government office, it seems like its workers are lethargic, and definitely don’t show no real interest in providing prompt customer service.

IT Professionals

– Ever tried to call your work’s technical support line? Ever noticed that though they are well connected with Blackberry’s and computers, but are never available to assist you? IT dudes seem to always be ‘there’ but are not ‘there’ for you when you need it.

Call Centres

– Ever worked in one of these disaster zones? I have, and I recall being physically there, but mentally in another atmosphere.

Presenteeism is only really applied when one is working at a job that they do not really enjoy – Dr. Ron Kessler of the Harvard Medical School, published a journal that outlined the relationships to depression in the workplace and presenteeism. His study calculated the costs to the employer when staff show up to work and are not productive as they should be. I

am sure that many people can relate to this behavior of ‘presenteeism’ as you are most likely reading this blog at your job!

The Nerban’s week in Tech

I know you all are digging the dope retro technology picture. Anyhow, this week in technology for the Nerban sees an affordable iPhone, and Google’s continued pursuit of world domination. I said it once, and I will say it again, Google offers the best services for the web (email, search, google docs), but Google is essentially an advertising service for companies – they offer free products, and slap adsense wherever possible. Twitter, take note, as you may need a business model soon, anyway, here are the best links:

$99 iPhonehttp://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10161368-37.htm
– As everyone is feeling the pressure in this battered economy, Apple posits itself to release an affordable iPhone; if successful, they could go at the neck and take out some cheap alternative smartphone models (HTC, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung)

Hot or Cold – Its all good

Foods that taste good hot or cold, just in-time when you need it

You know those nights where you come in, its like 4 am, you are starving after an eventful night of drinking. You are in a state of ripe limbo – too tired to prepare something hot that may take upwards to 30 minutes, but so famish that you need some food to give you energy so that you can sleep well – and hopefully ward off a hangover. So you open the fridge, looking for something edible that doesn’t need heating up, you are looking for something that tastes just as good, if not better cold. Ergo for all the wild party animal yuppies, and the do-nothing youth vagabonds, here is a starter guide to the food that tastes good, hot or cold:

Rice Krispies
– a.k.a. Stoner food, I can’t recall the last time I had rice krispies hot, or can’t recall if I ever had the thought to heat it up, but when you need a quick snack, a cold Rice Krispies treat will do the job.

Pizza
– possibly the best hot/cold food item, of course the hot pizza is always reliable to hit the spot, but there is something about cold pizza that is equally irresistible; I don’t know if its the hardened cheese that creates a layer above the sauce that separates the pizza into two, but damn, does it taste good.

Raisin Bread
– don’t be surprised about Raisin Bread, the sweet raisins mixes with the flour in the bread to make for a nice mixed taste hot or cold

Boiled Eggs
– Does one really enjoy boiled eggs? Hot or Cold it has no real taste, and the purpose of eating is purely for the health benefits, so hot or cold, it doesn’t really matter as it really has no causation on taste.

Time Management for the Yuppy

Techniques to get the most done

The Yuppies (Young Urban Professionals), especially the creative ones, their Achilles heel has to be that their isn’t enough time in a day to match and/or sustain their ideas. Juggling work, school, family, and social relationships, the Yuppy can at times feel flustered; upstairs, the mind is working at light speed, but there just does not seem to be an abundant amount of time to keep up with the ideas. So the key to this problem, must be trying to organize the ideas into manageable tasks and goals, then creating a plan to attack such. At times, that may be easier said than done, so I have compiled a list of some practiced time management techniques that can help make you the ambitious, creative, and innovative individual that you seek to be:

Contemporary Time Management

First generation: reminders (based on clocks and watches, but with computer implementation possible) can be used to alert of the time when a task is to be done.Second generation: planning and preparation (based on calendar and appointment books) includes setting goals.Third generation: planning, prioritizing, controlling (using a personal organizer, other paper-based objects, or computer- or PDA-based systems) activities on a daily basis. This approach implies spending some time in clarifying values and priorities.Fourth generation: being efficient and proactive (using any tools above) places goals and roles as the controlling element of the system and favors importance over urgency.

For the Yuppy, and much of the younger generation, I think we are currently in the fourth generation where we use the tools in the first to third generation, and we prioritize goals based on its significance to its overall effect or processes.

Task lists are often tiered. The simplest tiered system includes a general to-do list (or task-holding file) to record all the tasks the person needs to accomplish, and a daily to-do list which is created each day by transferring tasks from the general to-do list.

Task List Organization by Prioritization:

An early advocate of “ABC” prioritization was Alan Lakein (See Books below.). In his system “A” items were the most important (“A-1″ the most important within that group), “B” next most important, “C” least important.
A particular method of applying the ABC method assigns “A” to tasks to be done within a day, “B” a week, and “C” a month.
To prioritize a daily task list, one either records the tasks in the order of highest priority, or assigns them a number after they are listed (“1″ for highest priority, “2” for second highest priority, etc.) which indicates in which order to execute the tasks. The latter method is generally faster, allowing the tasks to be recorded more quickly.

ABC analysis

This technique that has been used in business management for a long time is the categorization of large data into groups. These groups are often marked A, B, and C—hence the name. Activities are ranked upon these general criteria:

A – Tasks that are perceived as being urgent and important.
B – Tasks that are important but not urgent.
C – Tasks that are neither urgent nor important.
Each group is then rank-ordered in priority. To further refine priority, some individuals choose to then force-rank all “B” items as either “A” or “C”. ABC analysis can incorporate more than three groups. ABC analysis is frequently combined with Pareto analysis.

Pareto analysis

This is the idea that 80% of tasks can be completed in 20% of the disposable time. The remaining 20% of tasks will take up 80% of the time. This principle is used to sort tasks into two parts. According to this form of Pareto analysis it is recommended that tasks that fall into the first category be assigned a higher priority. The 80-20-rule can also be applied to increase productivity: it is assumed that 80% of the productivity can be achieved by doing 20% of the tasks. If productivity is the aim of time management, then these tasks should be prioritized higher.

POSEC method

POSEC is an acronym for Prioritize by Organizing, Streamlining, Economizing and Contributing. The method dictates a template which emphasizes an average individual’s immediate sense of emotional and monetary security. It suggests that by attending to one’s personal responsibilities first, an individual is better positioned to shoulder collective responsibilities.

PRIORITIZE-Your time and define your life by goals.
ORGANIZING-Things you have to accomplish regularly to be successful. (Family and Finances)
STREAMLINING-Things you may not like to do, but must do. (Work and Chores)
ECONOMIZING-Things you should do or may even like to do, but they’re not pressingly urgent. (Pastimes and Socializing)
CONTRIBUTING-By paying attention to the few remaining things that make a difference. (Social Obligations)

In the end, it comes down in really spitting out all of your ideas fully, in its totality, and then methodically attacking each task until its completion – easier said than done, trust me I know, but equipped with the right tools, and the right mindset, and a reduction in the wrong stresses/stressors, any task can be meet.

Workplace Etiquette for the YuppySome tips for getting through the day

The Yuppy (Young Urban Professional) is constantly on the go; most times though, the Yuppy needs to resort to a full-time job in order to fund their projects. However, the Yuppy has to be careful and walk that fine line of being productive at work, and being productive for their business. Thus, I thought I would share a few tips with my fellow Yuppielites.

Cycler
alt+tab (windows) OR apple+tab (mac)

You have more important things to do than prepare the 3rd-quarter report, you need to check your gmail and facebook. Instead of making it look bait by using your mouse to click back to the work your supposed to do, using alt+tab on the keyboard quickly changes your active window in a smooth manner.

IT Connect

Your IT Department is one of your greatest resources at work, befriend one of them as they can give you valuable Intel and help. The IT department can grant you special privileges, advise you what sites not to visit, and give you a heads-up on ‘crackdowns’.

Avoiding the IDC Symptom

The IDC symptom can be defined as “I Don’t Care”, and is developed when your co-workers start talking to you about trite details: ‘My kids hockey games’, ‘this boss is incompetent because …’, ‘did you watch that show last night’, and so on. My initial, instinctual response is ‘I really don’t care’, and ‘why are you talking to me’, but since we need this job to generate income and living, we need to avoid the IDC’s. Some common ways to avoid the IDC is:- Smile and nod: very effective, but can be deadly because it implies that you are actually intrigued in the conversation, and it shows that you are engaged.- Hmm, ok, wow: also very effective, alludes to you being not only responsive, but implies that you are listening to their every note and syllable

Outlook
Outlook is the enterprise e-mail application that most businesses use because of its powerful Exchange Server (even though Mozilla Thunderbird is better). I know you may have some documents to work on, and opening up MS Word may seem very suspicious as you may have to do a lot of ‘cycling’, however, Outlook can be used as a word processor and has some useful features such as ‘tasks’ and ‘notes’. Better yet, if you are working on a document, compose it in an e-mail, so that even if someone walks by, it looks like you are composing a work-related email.

Punctuality
This really shouldn’t be a point, but its important that you start on time, and leave on time. Because as with all work environments, there are snitches and informers – don’t give them anything to use against you.

With that said, you are the future of tomorrow, get ahead today … at work.